10 on Tuesday.... or uh Wednesday

1. If you could open any type of store/place of business (money is no obstacle), what would you open?
I would love to run a successful business. The thing is getting it to be successful is the part that sucks. I would run my own production company. Movies, commercials, PSA's that type of thing.

2. If all jobs paid equally, what occupation would you want? Why?
I have a couple of dream jobs. To be a radio DJ or be a photographer for Rolling Stone magazine. I was a DJ in college and absolutely loved it. I totally felt a calling. Same with photography. I've always had a passion for it and Rolling Stone is the end all be all of music photography.

3. If you could be any animal in the world, what would you pick? Why?
I've always said a bald eagle. Just because they are so graceful and I always have thought that it would be cool to fly.

4. If offered one “service” free of charge, which would you choose? (chauffeur, maid, personal shopper, chef, etc.)
Nutritionist or Personal trainer. Someone that plans all my meals, maybe cooks them for me and kicks my butt into gear to exercise. Isn't that how all the celebrities lose weight?

5. What is one habit, no matter how hard you try, you just can’t seem to break?
Ugh freaking junk food. I did at one point then reverted then stopped for a while then went back again. It's like a bad relationship that you just can't seem to break.

6. What is one thing that no matter how many you own, you still love to buy all the time?
I really don't spend a lot of money on non necessities. I really can't think of any. Wait does beer count as a necessity? Yes... I think it does.

7. Out of all the game shows (past and present), which would you want to be a participant on and play?
Probably Legends of the Hidden Temple from the 90's on Nickelodeon. I used to love that show. It didn't look too hard. I don't even remember what they won. But it looked like so much fun.

8. If you could play the lead role in any movie that’s already been made, which movie would you pick?
Lucy from Across the Universe. That is one of my favorite movies. And it looked like so much fun to make.

9. Name 5 things on your bucket list (things you want to do before you die).

1. Go to Europe with my Mom
2. Meet Paul McCartney or Ringo Starr
3. Go to NYC... probably doing that this summer
4. Go scuba diving
5. Be on a real Hollywood movie set
   

10. Which one of your birthdays was the best? What did you do that day?
Ummm... probably my 4th birthday. My family and I took a trip to South Dakota. I wanted this baby doll SOO bad and when I went into the cabin that day they she was sitting on my bed. It was pure excitement and happiness. I mean there was my 21st birthday but nothing compares to that childish joy I had that day.

Guitar Lessons

So, D has been giving me guitar lessons. He actually bought me my own for Christmas.



I love it! Now, while I LOVE music and know a lot about it, I'm not all that musically gifted myself. I love to sing, but I'm not that good at. But, since D bought me the Fender and he has been playing for a long time, I thought I would give it a shot. It's a lot harder than it looks. I have been practicing and trying to get the basics down.

D's a FANTASTIC teacher. He is very patient and encouraging. When I get frustrated he just says, "play it again." The other day, I was getting SUPER frustrated and just said, "relax, no one is judging you here. And I think you are doing really well."

Knowing my love for The Beatles, he taught me the intro to Day Tripper and called it "my incentive to practice."



And it really has encouraged me to practice. I can actually hear the song when I'm playing it!

He also taught me the guitar rif to In da gadda da vida by iron butterfly. Now that's rock and/ or roll!!

Awesomeness

I've been reading Sleepy Jane's blog for a while now and have always wondered what she did to make her pictures look so unique. To me they look kinda vintagey. She posted morning, as a side note, how she got them to look the way they do. It's a website called rollip.com. It is SO easy and I love it. Here is an example of how you can add different effects to your pics.


In fact I love it so much, I thought it might be a cute idea as something to give D for Valentines Day.

Ten on Tuesday

1. Fill in the blank. Sometimes I wish my life was more ______.
adventurous. I'm really happy, but I wish I could go on more adventures. Like randomly jump on a plane and spend the weekend in NYC or something.

2. How do you cure the hiccups?
Make myself burp. It's gross but it works every time.

3. What are three of your favorite indulgences?
Jackie Collins novels
Beer
Fast Food

4. Where is the most exotic place you would like to travel to? The most mundane?
I always thought it would be cool to go on a safari in Africa.

Back to my hometown or to visit my Dad in Chicago. Anywhere that my family is.

5. Does having your time planned out stress you or relax you?
I definitely like to plan so it relaxes me. And it's so nice to have my significant other be a planner as well. I've never had that before. In fact. He's more of a planner than I am. At the beginning of each month we go through the calendar together and write out important dates.

6. What are your favourite fabrics to wear?
Usually anything comfortable. But I wore a pair of silk pj's once. It felt so awesome. I felt like royalty or maybe Hugh Hefner.

7. Do you sleep through the night?

Usually. Unless I have a bad dream.

8. When you were younger, what did you think you would be doing at this age? How close is that to what you are doing?
I really don't know. I changed my mind so much on what I wanted to be when I got older that I can't really say. Honestly, I couldn't really picture myself past college. It just seemed SO OLD! lol

9. What has surprised you most about growing up?
That it's definitely not as easy as I thought. I never knew how hard it would be to find a job after college. I really learned that. I've also learned that it never gets any easier. Only different. But, that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

BTW... you know when you were a kid and people asked you what you wanted to do when you grew up? Well, are we "grown up" now? If so, I really don't feel like I am.

10. Are you good at keeping secrets?

Yeah I am. Although I am a horrible lair. So, if the secret involves me having to lie in an elaborate way I'm basically screwed.

Finding a Balance

When I was single I did what I wanted, when I wanted. Spent time with my friends, went to work, cooked myself dinner. Everything. Now that I am in a relationship I spend most of my time with my boyfriend; I guess maybe because it is still a relatively new relationship.

But, I know from experience that he can not be my whole life. I don't want him to. I don't want to lose my friends or myself. He wouldn't want me to either.

So, right now I'm struggling to find a balance. I say struggle because for some reason or another, I'm having a hard time with it. I absolutely do not want to be like that friend that we all know that can't do anything without her boyfriend. That WILL NOT be me. But yet I am becoming her.

I also know that I want to be a better friend. I realized recently that a lot of what I know about my friend's lives is from their Twitter posts. I should not rely solely on their facebook/ twitter/ blog posts to inform me of how they are and whats going on in their lives.

It's all about finding a balance. A balance between all the loves in my life. My lovely lady friends, myself, my family and my wonderful boyfriend. I know tomorrow is February, but this is my new, new years resolution!

Since Faith totally called me out for not blogging enough... I suppose I better thank her for my awesome award :-) Thanks Faith for the Happy 101 Award. *tear* I didn't even have an acceptance speech prepared!


So as part of the Happy 101 here are the rules:

1) List 10 things that make you happy
2) Tag 10 bloggers that brighten your day
3) If you are one of the 10 bloggers awarded, link back to my blog and continue brightening people's day!

Ten things that make me happy:

1. The Beatles (I can tell what song it is just by the first note)
2. Coffee (I have no idea how else I would wake up in the morning)
3. When D calls me (yeah I still get excited)
4. Facebook (it's my job to be on it all day and I love it... not to mention Sorority Life... I really do like playing that game!)
5. Going out to eat (I love food)
6. Metallic blue 1965 Ford Mustang convertibles
   
7. My beautiful niece Zoe
8. When D tells me he loves me!
9. Spending quality time with my good friends
10. Making movies

10 bloggers that brighten my day

1. Chelsea from Chelsea Talks Smack
2. David from The Rest is Still Unwritten
3. Sleepy Jane
4. Jen at Welcome to the Jungle
5. A Damn Good Shot
6. Ashalah Blogs
7. Jenn at Living Life
8. Julie from The Ordinary Days
   
9. Stephanie at Bits and Pieces of My World
10. Erin from Mama Said No!
    

The Traveling Necklace

So many people ask me about this that I thought I would share the story on here.

A couple of years ago my Mom and I took a vacation to Santa Monica, CA for my cousin's wedding. One of the days that we were there we went shopping. And at a little boutique we both came across this necklace at the same time. We both REALLY liked it. So we bought it.



As some of you may or may not know my Mom and I live about 1000 miles away from each other and only see one another a couple of times a year. We are also really super close. Probably as close a mother and daughter could be.

So, when it came time for me to back to my end of the country and her to hers, we discussed who would get to keep the necklace. We both really like it and wanted to keep it. So, my Mom came up with an idea!

"Whenever we see each other, we will trade the necklace. For example if I have it when I go to visit her I will give it to her. Then next time we see each other she will give it to me. We call it the traveling necklace"

Both of us get SO many compliments on it. Even before people know the story behind it. It was probably less than $10 at a little boutique in Santa Monica that I can't even remember the name of, but yet it has come to mean so much; to both of us.